Christophe Honore’s rather baffling epic-length drama covers the time span between the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia and the 9/11 attacks and against this background world-changing events the story is simply about two women who tried desperately to be loved. Young Madeleine discovers the way to pay for the expensive fancy shoes she coverts at the … Continue reading
If I had to summarize Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu’s latest movie in one word, it would unhesitatingly be ‘bleak’. From the isolated Monastery with no running water or electricity nestling in the hills beyond a remote village where even the summers look cold and uninviting, to the plot which is about an ex-orphanage girl who … Continue reading
17 year old Charlene (who goes by Charlie) just cannot wait to get to school so that she can escape the constant bickering of her parents. She may love her father but she doesn’t like the way her mother allows him to ride rough shod over her and be so indiscreet about his dalliances with … Continue reading
Actress Maria Enders a 40-ish movie star is having something of a middle-aged crisis with her marriage dissolving and her career at a crossroads. She has been persuaded to travel to Switzerland to accept an Award on behalf of her close friend the playwright Wilhelm Melchior who had given her the breakthrough role that started her … Continue reading
In Andre Zvyagintsev’s rather somber movie set in modern-day Moscow its painfully clear that despite all its fine principles post Soviet Russia is simply just another society where the ‘have’ and the ‘have not’s’ bitterly resent each other. The wealthy have greatly profited from the new capitalism whilst the poor are finding it difficult to … Continue reading